ABSTRACT
Many complex projects require creative approaches to problem solving. The approach described in Vasilije Kokotovich tool uses the most frequently at the front end of the project, during initiation or definition and planning. His aim in developing the method was to assist student industrial designers to enhance their ability to resolve complex design problems. As some design problems exhibit similar characteristics to complex projects, the tool can be used to help project teams and stakeholder groups to explore options, develop solutions which satisfice and validate those solutions against agreed criteria. The approach achieves this by structuring the design process so that the kind of thinking that takes place is appropriate to the stage of the problem-solving process. Design-protocol studies also suggest that expert designers tend to establish problem structure at the beginning of the design process and then they step back from the problem in order to contextualise the problem.
